


Capture the Captain

by SecretLeePsycho



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aobajousai, Bickering, Capture the flag with a twist, Consequences, Daichi outnumbered, Datekougyou | Date Tech, Embarrassment, Flags, Forts, Fukuroudani, Get it together Karasuno!, Humor, Karasuno, Nekoma, Shiratorizawa, Strong Language, Suga's time to shine, Team Bonding, Training Camp, Tricksters, fears, someone save daichi, woods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:02:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretLeePsycho/pseuds/SecretLeePsycho
Summary: Frowning and looking away momentarily, Ukai waved a dismissive hand at the captain."Never mind that. I want you focusing on fixing the shitty attitudes on this team. I don't care if you sit up all night telling scary stories or hold hands singing Kumbaya! Figure it out or I will, and trust me…" Ukai said, eyes narrowing and hands tucking into the pockets of his jacket as he leaned forward to whisper menacingly."You're not gonna like what I come up with."**************************************************The guys are off to training camp, but it's obvious they have multiple things they need to work on, their most crippling fault being their lack of teamwork! Coach Ukai is sick of the bantering and can't seem to make them get along, but day four provides an interesting opportunity. Six teams will compete in a special, day long game of capture the flag, can Karasuno get it together?
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25





	1. Training Camp

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I had a great idea for this silly crazy fic! Enjoy the ride as these boys harass one another and try to take other players as prisoner! XD

FWOOSH! BAM!

The shrill pitch of a whistle cut through the squeaking of dozens of sneakers on the gymnasium floor, announcing not only the end of a practice match between Karasuno and Fukurodani, but the last practice match of the day.

"Whoohoo! We did it, we won Kageyama, we won! Did you see that, did you?! We won!"

From the other side of the net a loud moaning could be heard, accompanied by a heavy sigh and some murmured reassurance.

Sniffing indignantly, the ink haired setter from Karasuno pried Hinata's fingers off as he excitedly groped the fabric of Kageyama's shoulder, doing little to contain the short boy's excitement as he continued to vibrate with cheers.

"Stop celebrating you idiot, they beat us thirteen other times, we're still the losers." He snapped, crossing his arms and looking away with a scowl, although he didn't look as bitter as he had previously.

Rubbing the back of his head, Daichi sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm and passed by his underclassmen on his way to Yachi and Kiyoko offering water bottles.

"While I'm glad we don't have to do another flying lap, Kageyama isn't wrong… We only managed to take two matches from Fukuradani. We've got a ways to go if we don't want to be eliminated early at Nationals."

Shoulders sagging, Hinata ceased his cheering.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Daichi, what's with the negative energy? You're being a wet blanket!"

Sidling up alongside them, Suga punched his captain in the stomach and shook his head admonishingly, Daichi sputtering a cough and clutching at his gut.

"Do you have to hit so hard?..."

"Let the guy enjoy a win, he scored the final point with that wicked cut shot after all. Way to look like an ace, Hinata!"

"R-Really?!" Hinata beamed, reviving instantly and eyes twinkling as Sugawara ruffled his hair with a grin turning up the corner of his mouth.

"I guess I did look pretty cool! When the ball went FWOO I was like WABAM, and then it was like BOING-OING-OING! Man, my palm is still stinging! Scoring with a spike is totally awesome, but making the winning spike-" Hinata clenched his fists beneath his chin with watery eyes.

"That's the best feeling in the world!"

"Idiot, nothing you say makes sense." Kageyama muttered as he walked by to retrieve a water bottle, Sugawara tipping his head back with a lighthearted laugh.

"It was a good play, you're right." Daichi admitted, rubbing at his stomach but smiling gratefully at Kiyoko as she handed him a bottle. Pulling the top up and taking a long drink, Daichi wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a breath.

"I'm not saying we can't enjoy a win, just that we shouldn't let it go to our heads. We've seen a ton of areas where we can improve, this training camp would be a waste if we didn't take those things seriously."

Pouting, Sugawara let out a sigh and loosely crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well when you put it that way it almost sounds like you're right to be a buzz kill."

Daichi rolled his eyes and used his water bottle to bonk Sugawara lightly on the head.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice, you of all people should see where we could use some work."

Affronted, Suga's eyes went wide with a touch of hurt.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Seeing his friend's change in demeanor, Daichi quickly waved a hand in front of him.

"Don't get worked up, I was talking about teamwork. Since you're our best example of a team player, I thought you'd notice how much we need to work on it. Our first years seem to struggle with the concept." Daichi said, glancing over to Tsukishima who was currently goading a red face Hinata, and shook his head.

"You're someone who actively contributes to the team to help complete tasks, meet goals or manage projects. To be a true team, it's essential we all understand that our success together is also our own success. Wouldn't you say you're the best one to show them we share responsibility when the team experiences difficulties, and that we work together to solve it?"

"O-oh." Suga blinked and dropped his arms, completely blindsided by Daichi's observation and left momentarily speechless as a faint pink tinted his cheeks. Reaching up to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly, he nodded. "Um- Yeah, I did notice. You really think all that, Daichi? That's some real praise coming from you."

Laughing lightly and giving his vice a kind smile, Daichi shifted his weight to one side and put a hand on his hip.

"And why's that? Because I'm the captain? I only say it because it's true, you've stuck with this team through thick and thin."

Jumping into the conversation, Asahi joined the duo with his shoulders hunched and his head bowed.

"I think Suga means because you're usually serious and making a real scary face, so it's strange to see you look so… Uh… so…"

Chin pulling toward his chest, Daichi glared dully up at the cowardly spiker with a brow raised.

"Look so what? Finish you're sentence, ace."

Gulping loudly, Asahi ducked behind Sugawara and peeked over his shoulder.

"That's it, that's the face I'm talking about… Scary."

Snickering under his breath, Suga patted Daichi on the shoulder and pushed him to start walking toward their coach where the rest of the team was gathering.

"Your feathers are so easily ruffled, Daichi, you make it too easy to pick on you. You'd better lighten up, one of these days it's really going to get you into some trouble."

Turning his incredulous stare to his other friend, the captain crossed his arms as they walked.

"What would you like me to do, change my personality? I can't help who I am, Suga. Maybe the rest of you should try being a little more serious, I could use a break every once in a while- TANAKA! Why do I have to keep telling you to stop growling at people, Knock it off!"

Grabbing the second year by the back of his practice jersey as they walked by, Daichi huffed an irritable breath out of his nose and drug Tanaka along with him as he continued to bare his teeth at a player from Date Tech. Apparently a first year had gotten too close to Kiyoko as he retrieved a ball and as a result was looking rather startled as Daichi apologized over his shoulder.

"Watch where you're stepping next time, punk- OW!"

Flinching as Sugawara slapped him on the back of his head, Tanaka whined.

"That hurt!"

"Then stop acting like a rabid dog, you're going to get me in trouble, not that you care." Daichi muttered, pushing the younger boy ahead of him and shoving him in the direction of the others.

Pouting, the shaved head boy trudged toward the rest of the team who was turning their attention to Coach Ukai calling their attention.

"Alright, nice job! We managed to not lose every match today, things are starting to come together." Coach Ukai said as he nodded his head sagely and crossed his arms over his chest. "We're still in dead last for the week and we've had more penalty laps and sprints than everyone else… But we've had the chance to go head to head with a bunch of powerhouse schools, this camp hasn't been a waste. I expect you all to reflect on the things we can improve, I'm sure you've all got ideas of your individual strengths and weaknesses, but don't be afraid to open your eyes a little wider for once! "

Tilting his head to the side in obvious befuddlement, Hinata frowned as he pushed between Kageyama and Tsukishima's arms to better see.

"Uh, Coach, what do you mean by that? You don't think we should work on our individual skills?... What else are we supposed to do then?"

"Get off me you idiot." Kageyama snapped as he knocked the decoy away from him and into the taller boy.

"Hey, watch it, King. You shoved your servant into me."

"Don't call me that."

"Hey, I'm not a servant!" Hinata sputtered angrily, Coach Ukai giving an irritated groan and raising a hand to rub his temples.

"Oh right, you're much closer to a monkey than a servant, aren't you?" Tsukishima sneered, Yamaguchi snickering beside him.

"At least I don't have an ugly face like a monkey!" Hinata retorted, getting on his tiptoes to yell up at Tsukishima.

"Hey, Tsukki isn't ugly!"

"Shut up Tadashi."

"Sorry Tsukki."

Ukai watched them with annoyance, a hand moving to his hip and clearing his throat to get their attention, but it didn't seem as though anyone heard him. Attempting to break up the underclassmen's bickering, Sugawara leaned his head in with a calming smile.

"Come on guys, can't we do this later? Coach is trying to talk-"

"What was that shorty? You're so close to the ground I could barely hear you." Tsukishima retorted, flicking Hinata in the forehead and making him stagger back.

"Ouch!"

"What's wrong with being short? Hinata could kick your ass if he wanted to!" Noya snapped at the tall blond from his other side, leaning around Yamaguchi. "You'd better watch your mouth, four eyes!"

"Guys, cut it out." Daichi warned from beside Sugawara.

"Y-yeah! I could totally kick your butt if I wanted to, you're lucky I don't!" Hinata stuttered, stepping behind Kageyama hurriedly as Tsukishima leaned down to get level with him.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try."

"Dumbass! For the last time, get off me or I'm going to kick your ass!" Kageyama growled, shaking his arm to try and rid Hinata clinging to it.

"KNOCK IT OFF! What are you, a bunch of damn animals?! This is what I'm talking about!"

Turning to stare blankly at the blond-haired man, the team blinked wide eyes at Ukai's outburst. Staring back at them, the man let out another sigh and shook his head in disbelief as he took in their lost expressions.

"Honestly, are you really this dumb?"

"Um Coach," Takeda attempted, leaning out from behind him and gripping his clipboard with a sheepish laugh. "I think maybe they need a better explanation."

Ukai muttered peevishly but straightened once more as he crossed his arms again. "Shouldn't need an explanation, it's as plain as day. You morons need to learn how to connect! You're so busy challenging each other, spouting arrogant trash talk, and arguing, you don't work together like you need to! Take a look at the other teams, they don't butt heads nearly as much as the lot of you!"

Looking around the gymnasium, Fukuradani could be seen trying to cheer up their captain who was taking their recent defeat rather harshly. Akaashi was patting Bokuto on the back as the others took turns pointing out his more impressive spikes, the owl eyed boy slowly beginning to grin once more.

To the left, Nekoma was cleaning up stray volleyballs using an organized system that had each of the players lined up and bumping balls down a line to their setter who stood beside the cart. Looking bored, Kenma caught each one and dropped it into the container, shaking his head as they laughed at Lev who took a ball to the face by mistake, but quickly scooped it back up and sent it to the next person in line.

Aoba Johsai was across from Nekoma, and even they seemed to be sharing a team bonding experience over razzing Oikawa for fussing with his hair. He'd run his fingers through it repeatedly in an effort to restore it to its usual flawless tousled, only for Iwaizumi to grab him in a headlock and roughly noogie it to oblivion. The captain flailed and yelled profanities as the rest of his team bent over in laughter.

Date Tech was a little different as they seemed to be having a competition amongst themselves, but were still laughing and cheering as they had convinced Aone to hold his hands up as high as he could, and were taking turns trying to jump up and give him ten. The usually stoic boy didn't look as though he understood the point of the exercise, but he was grinning at each failed attempt.

Finally, a glance over to Shiritorizawa showed Ushijima giving instruction to his teammates. The underclassmen were standing attentively, engrossed in the few words their captain had to offer as a few of the other third years nodded, inserting advice and reassurance. As they stood in a loose circle, the feeling of respect was nearly tangible.

Ducking their heads at the obvious difference between Karasuno and the rest of the teams, the group of boys looked wearily to one another and remained silent. Putting his hands on his hips, Ukai leaned forward looking to them expectantly.

"Well? You see it, don't you?"

Refusing to answer, the first years avoided eye contact as the upperclassmen bowed their heads or rubbed at their necks uncomfortably. Getting along had been the last thing on everyone's mind, improving skills having taken up almost all their time. Looking them over for a long stern moment, Ukai eventually let out a sigh and relaxed his posture.

"Look, I'm not asking you to sit in a circle and make friendship bracelets, but clearly there's room for improvement. Teams are built on trust and respect, just look at your upperclassmen! Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi!"

"Yes sir!" The three boys stammered but bowed their heads, stepping forward as their names were called.

"The three of you have the strongest connection on this team, when Sugawara steps onto the court the entire dynamic changes, anyone with eyes could see it. A lot of that is shared experience, but I'm willing to bet the rest comes from getting to know one another. You don't have to agree with a person or like them to understand them, it just means you keep an open mind and learn how to work together in a way that's tolerable."

Looking to one another blinking, Daichi, Suga, and Asahi stared for a moment, but then broke into grins and nodded. They hadn't known each other before high school, but volleyball had brought them together and made their bond strong. Even if their personalities differed, the trio always managed to balance each other out.

Locking eyes with each of the third years, Ukai directed his orders at them.

"I'm glad you agree, because I'm expecting you to get this message through the thick skulls of your underclassmen! I'm sick of losing all my bets to the other coaches, pull your asses together and learn how to get along!"

"Uh Sir, losing bets?" Daichi questioned, brow dipping at the slip up.

Frowning and looking away momentarily, Ukai waved a dismissive hand at the captain.

"Never mind that. I want you focusing on fixing the shitty attitudes on this team. I don't care if you sit up all night telling scary stories or hold hands singing Kumbaya! Figure it out or I will, and trust me…" Ukai said, eyes narrowing and hands tucking into the pockets of his jacket as he leaned forward to whisper menacingly.

"You're not gonna like what I come up with."

Letting out a collective shiver, the group of boys gulped as their coach turned on his heel and threw up a hand as he walked away.

"Dismissed."


	2. Capture The Captain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a ton of fun laying the groundwork for the team's dynamic, the next chapter will get into the specifics of the rules and then it's game on! Thanks for taking the time to read, I really appreciate the comments and hope you all enjoy my take on the characters! Feel free to drop any questions below <3

"Uh, maybe we could try playing a game?"

"We play matches against each other all the time, I don't see how that's going to help them to bond, Asahi."

The babble of voices and the warm enticing scent of food wafted through the crowded cafeteria as the third years sat at Karasuno's designated table, anxious worry lines threatening to leave permanent marks on their foreheads. Pushing his food around uneasily, Asahi made meek eye contact with the restless captain and shook his head.

"I know that I was talking about a different kind of game... You know, like a- a… A team bonding game? Something that could help us to know each other a little better."

"Hmm… He might be onto something." Suga said, mumbling around a mouthful of rice and pointing at Asahi with his chopsticks.

"It's way easier to understand a person and get along with them if you know a little more about them. Maybe we could go around the table and share something about ourselves… Like a fear and a hobby other than volleyball?"

Crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes, Daichi nodded in thought.

"Maybe if they have something in common, they'll be more willing to tolerate and sympathize with each other. I guess it's worth a try."

Opening his eyes, the brunette sat up straight in his chair. Looking over his peers, Daichi raised his voice to speak above the others at the table and called for their attention.

"Alright, listen up everyone!"

Just like with Coach Ukai, it seemed the guys were too busy bickering to take notice of their captain trying to get their attention, Kageyama on a mission to stab Hinata with his chopsticks for stealing something from his plate as the redhead snickered like the thief he was, Tanaka, badgering a stoic Tsukishima for bringing their coach's wrath down on them. Right brow trembling with exasperation, Daichi let out a grunt and slammed his hand down on the table making his plate and utensils jump and clatter.

"Oi! I said listen up!"

Ceasing their bickering with Kageyama's hand buried in Hinata's hair and Tanaka's fingers twisted in the the collar of Tsukishima's t-shirt, the group of boys looked to their captain as if they just realized he was there.

"What's up Daichi, why are you shouting?" Noya asked from beside Tanaka, bits of food tumbling from his lips as he turned his head up from wolfing down his meal.

Shaking his head with a grimace, Daichi sighed for probably the hundredth time that day. Without an explanation, he got right into it.

"We're going to play a game while we eat, no it isn't optional, and yes you're all participating," Daichi said, eyes lingering on the tall blond first year before he could look away.

Rubbing at his chin, Ennoshita voiced a question.

"What sort of game?"

"It's a team bonding game, something to help us get to know each other better." Scratching at the back of his head, Daichi looked a little guilty. "Typically, this type of exercise is done at the beginning of the season, but with everything going on and our team scattered at first, I guess we kind of forgot."

Asahi slumped in his chair at that, but Noya having not a single bone of regret in his body, shrugged. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"So what do we do?" Yamaguchi asked Daichi with a curious tilt to his head.

"Okay, so here's how it's going to work. Each person will get a chance to talk, and we'll go around and tell the team one fear we have and one hobby. You can share whatever you'd like and name any hobby, but it must be something other than volleyball. When you're done sharing, pick someone to go next. Any questions?"

Looking back and forth at one another silently, Daichi took that as they understood and looked to his vice sitting beside him.

"Great, we'll get started then. Why don't you go first Suga?"

Pausing with food in his mouth, the setter looked surprised by the call out, but swallowed and nodded.

"Oh yeah, sure."

Setting his chopsticks aside, Suga cupped his elbow in one hand as the other gripped his chin.

"Hmm, one fear and a hobby… Let's see, well I don't' know if it's so much a fear, but I'm not good with blood. A few drops like a paper cut or scratch is fine, but any more than that and I'll start getting all lightheaded and nauseous, I'm not really sure why."

"Oh, you mean like that time you got nailed in the face with the ball! You got a nosebleed and passed the hell out!" Tanaka reminded his upperclassman loudly, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding.

Rubbing at the back of his head with a reluctant laugh, Suga nodded too.

"Yeah, that's right. As for a hobby… hmm, I guess this is harder than I thought. My parents are out of town or busy frequently, so if I'm not studying there isn't really much else I do besides volleyball… I do tend to bug Daichi a lot, so I guess you could say hanging out with friends is my hobby?" Sugawara asked, laughing lightly at his rather bland explanation of himself.

Smiling back at his friend, Daichi laughed too.

"What about bird watching? You're always telling me about the Swallows and Starlings you see on the way over, that could be a hobby."

Humming thoughtfully, Sugawara rubbed his chin.

"That's true, I enjoy watching them fly around. It's exciting when they dip and dive, kinda makes me wanna fly too, you know? Okay, now I have to pick someone to go next, uhh… Asahi, the floors all yours."

"U-uh oh, me? Well okay…" The large boy stuttered, sitting up ramrod straight and touching his index fingers together nervously.

"Uh, I don't have a whole lot of things I do outside of volleyball, but one thing I do enjoy is tending to plants... My bedroom has a small balcony and I filled it with different types of bonsai and hanging flower boxes. I like pruning them and uh watering them, it's very peaceful." The large boy said with a soft smile lighting his face.

"Watering flowers? Sounds kinda boring, but hey if you're into that sort of thing, good for you! Give those bontai your best, Asahi!" Nishinoya yelled, enthusiastically slapping the third year on the back and making him cringe.

"Er, it's bonsai actually-"

"Yeah, that's what I said, bonchai! Say a fear next!"

Refraining from correcting the libero a second time, Asahi sighed and gave a tired but affectionate smile before putting a finger to his chin in contemplation.

"Oh yeah, a fear… But how do you pick just one? I don't like spiders, but then I always get startled when someone shuts a door too hard and it slams… That's not as bothersome as cows though, why do they have such a penetrating stare? It's like they're plotting something, it could make anyone nervous! That reminds me, strangers can be pretty scary too… and teachers… Tanko Sensei has a really scary voice when she yells, kind of like Daichi when he's angry, but in an old woman's body-"

"AHEM. Are you saying I'm one of your fears?" Daichi deadpanned, crossing his arms and glaring at his classmate.

Eyes going wide and then looking away from the captain hastily, the ace gripped his neck and made a noncommittal noise as Suga cackled with laughter.

"U-uh, I didn't say that! I'm n-not afraid of you, that would be silly. Uh, anyway, I pick Noya to go next."

"Coward." Daichi muttered but was drowned out by Nishinoya jumping to his feet and proudly putting his hands on his hips.

"Alright, my turn! You underclassmen better listen close if you want to be half as cool as me, maybe you should take notes!"

"Cool, is that what he calls it?" Tsukishima murmured under his breath, pushing rice into a little pile on his plate as he leaned on one hand looking positively bored.

Shooting the blond an agitated glare as his nostrils flared, the libero curled his hand into a threatening fist.

"What was that you scrawny bastard?!"

"Noya-Senpai, what kind of things do you do for fun? I bet it's something totally cool!" Hinata exclaimed, looking to his upperclassman reverently and awaiting what was sure to be an impressive hobby.

Forgetting all about Tsukishima, Nishinoya let out a pleased laugh and grinned at the other boy.

"You're damn right! Okay, so get this. I'm a smaller guy, right? Well, that doesn't matter when you're a pro at climbing! There are like a whole bunch of wicked tall trees around the house my Gramps lives in, I've climbed to the top of every one of them!"

Eyes bulging out of his head, Asahi gripped at the fabric of his shirt where his heart beat painfully.

"Isn't that really dangerous?! What if you fall?"

Letting out a boisterous laugh, Noya plopped back down in his chair and scooped another heap of rice into his mouth before answering, grains spewing haphazardly as he chewed and talked at the same time.

"Oh, I have fallen! Broke my arm once and another time I had to get five stitches for a cut on my forehead. You can't let something like a trip to the hospital keep you from doing stuff, I just learned to check how sturdy a branch is before stepping on it. I got better and better and now I almost never fall, it's totally worth it to check out the view, you feel like a king when you're up that high."

"Wooooah that's so cool! Teach me how to climb trees, teach me!" Hinata begged, eyes sparkling as he listened to Noya.

"Alright, alright, tell us a fear and pick the next person." Daichi reminded with a smile, not looking surprised in the least.

"Oh right, you got it Daichi. Hmm… A fear… I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but thunderstorms actually really freak me out." Noya shrugged, the whole team making various startled noises and blinking stunned.

"You're kidding, what's with the whole 'rolling thunder' thing then? Why would you name your favorite move after something you're scared of?" Sugawara inquired; brows pulled together at the sheer absurdity of the confession.

"What do you mean?" He asked, head tilting to the side in confusion. "The big booms and lightning might be intimidating and scary, but thunderstorms are totally badass. I mean, who wouldn't want to be as loud and flashy as something like that, Rolling Thunder is the perfect name for an epic move!" The boy grinned and gave a thumbs-up as he snickered.

Shaking their heads, the upperclassmen looked at each other and laughed.

"You really are something." Suga chuckled, but then began looking around. "Okay, who's next?"

"It's my turn to pick and I choose Chikara! You're up, dude!"

Slapping the dark-haired boy on the back with far more force than necessary, Ennoshita sucked up a noodle too fast and began coughing as he inhaled it. Reaching a useless hand toward his sputtering underclassman, Suga fretted as he scolded the short player.

"Noya, careful! You're going to make him choke!"

"Huh? Calm down man, it's nothing to get worked up about, you just gotta say a fear and a hobby." Nishinoya reassured, leaning his face into Ennoshita's, the latter shoving him away and turning to finish coughing.

"I'm not worked up you idiot," He retorted, wiping away the tears at the corners of his eyes and then turning forward with a dull scowl. "I'm coughing because you slapped me in the middle of eating."

"You look fine to me, come on, I want to know what you like to do besides studying!" Noya eagerly prodded.

Shaking his head, Ennoshita let out a sigh.

"I study to get good grades so I can get into a decent university, not because I find it fun." He replied dryly but realizing his irritation had no effect on the libero, relented. Crossing his arms over his chest, he thought for a moment and then gave his usual small smile.

"I enjoy a few things like reading and cloud watching, but my favorite is horror films. I've got a pretty big collection and all sorts of genres."

"Ahh, that's right. Tanaka interjected. "We had a scary movie night at his place over the summer, he's gotta own more than a video store! You're into some weird stuff, bro, I'm still not the same after watching that black-haired woman eat a man whole…So…Many teeth…" Tanaka said, face going white and giving a disturbed shiver.

Smirking mischievously, the usually docile boy laced his fingers and rested his chin on them.

"You're not going to like when I make you watch the second one then, her sister is twice as beautiful but has twice as many teeth."

Blanching, the spiker shook his head aggressively and waved his hands. "Hell no, there's no way I'm watching that! Turning beautiful babes into terrifying monsters should be a crime, I don't need that in my nightmares." He muttered hugging himself.

Laughing, Ennoshita grinned. "Chicken."

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you tell us your fears, Mr.I'm not scared of demon women!"

Shrugging, he leaned back in his chair. "Sure. I don't like heights."

"Aw, what?! That's so lame!" Noya complained loudly, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Not everyone is eager to fall out of a tree, you know. Anyway, I pick Kageyama to go next."

Mouth full of milk after just having taken a large sip, Kageyama turned his dumbfounded expression up to look at the rest of his teammates. After he finished swallowing, he relaxed back into his usual indifferent expression and pointed at himself.

"You want me to go?"

Giving a small smile, Ennoshita nodded his head.

"Oh uh, no thanks. I'll pass."

Shaking his head, Daichi leaned over the table, so he could see the young setter.

"Nice try Kageyama, didn't you hear me say this wasn't an optional exercise?"

Brow furrowing as his brain worked to remember, the ink haired boy's face twisted up with contemplation.

"Er… I thought you were talking about the weather."

"The weather?" Daichi asked, now looking more perplexed than his underclassmen, because the boy seemed sincere in what he was saying… Even if it didn't make any sense.

"Yeah, you were talking about the rain."

Squinting in confusion, the captain was at a loss for words.

"The… Rain." Daichi stated more than questioned, wondering if saying it aloud would bring some clarity.

Before Kageyama could offer anything else, Tsukishima made a noise of agitation and scowled.

"He said 'participating' not precipitation, you idiot. Do you and Hinata honestly share a single brain cell?"

Brow spasming from the call out, Kageyama's cheeks tinted pink as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"I-I knew that. Obviously…"

Laughing and rubbing at his nose to try and hide it, Daichi encouraged the setter to ignore the jab.

"It's fine, Kageyama, just take your turn and pick a person to go next. One fear and a hobby."

Turning his face forward again, he folded his arms over his chest and huffed a little breath out of his nose.

"A fear. Drowning. A hobby… I watch professional volleyball matches on tv."

"He said something other than volleyball, or did you misinterpret that too?" Tsukishima drawled, leaning on his hand and shaking his head.

Grunting Kageyama sent the blond a seething glare and snapped back at him.

"That's different than playing volleyball. Just because you always stand around on the court and watch doesn't mean it's the same."

Stiffening with a flash of rage crossing his features, Tsukishima's face quickly melted into a sickly-sweet smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not running around enough for you, Your Highness? You prefer the type that thoughtlessly jumps and sprints around wasting energy and effort, right? I guess I'll never be one of your loyal subjects, too bad." He said with fake mournfulness, giving a little sigh with a challenge in his eyes.

"Okay, that's enough." Daichi intercepted, Kageyama getting to his feet and nostrils flaring as his fingers gripped the edge of the table with excessive force.

"Watching it on tv isn't the same as playing so it's fine, go ahead and pick someone to go next. Sit back down."

Still glaring at Tsukishima, Kageyama grumbled to himself as Hinata's hand shot up and he began waving it around beside him.

"Oi! Kageyama, Kageyama! Choose me, I wanna go next, pick me!"

Not even bothering to turn his attention to the loud boy yelling beside him, Kageyama dropped back down into his chair gracelessly and crossed his arms over his chest. Narrowing his eyes further, he stared Tsukishima down.

"I want him to go next."

Scoffing, the blond leaned back in his chair crossing his arms as well.

"If you're hoping I'll say something as ignorant as you, I'm afraid that's not possible. My hobby is listening to music. I don't particularly fear anything, but I dislike getting lost."

"Oh, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi chimed in, eyes lighting up with a memory. "Remember that time when we were kids and missed the bus? We tried to walk home and got lost! It was getting so dark and scary, we ended up crying on the bench at the park until my Mom found us."

Cheeks flushing, Tsukishima scowled at his friend and threw a chopstick that bounced off the other boy's forehead.

"Shut up, Tadashi."

"HAHA, looks like Tsukishima wasn't always the salty jackass he is now, I bet you were still a lanky string bean even as a kid, weren't you?" Tanaka laughed obnoxiously, slinging an arm around the first year beside him and grinning ferociously.

"Get off me." The blond seethed as Yamaguchi sat up straight, rubbing his forehead after being assaulted with a chopstick.

"Don't make fun of Tsukki, being afraid of getting lost only makes him cooler!"

"Yeah, how's that?" Tanaka snickered, still grinning as the blond shoved him back into his own seat.

"Because, Tsukki never gets lost now! He can read any map and memorize it super quick, not to mention he always knows how to find north, it's really cool." The freckled boy bragged, looking to Tsukishima for approval as the taller boy looked away, refusing to take part in the conversation."

"Wow, that's really impressive, I wish I had a memory like that." Asahi offered from the other end of the table, smiling softly as he scratched at the scruff on his chin.

A few of the others nodded in agreement, but then Tanaka was slapping Tsukishima on the back like Noya smacking Ennoshita.

"Alright, your turns up, pick someone else!"

Lurching forward he gave Tanaka an irritated glance.

"Does it matter? Take your turn if you want, I don't care."

Smirking, the second year folded his arms over his chest and gave a satisfied noise.

"Picking me, are you? Alright, but hold onto your panties boys, if you think Tsukishima's lame map reading is impressive, my coolness will knock your socks clear into next week."

"Uh, I don't think that's how the saying goes." Suga retorted, a pained smile on his lips as Daichi sighed beside him and shook his head.

"Get on with it, Tanaka."

Oblivious to his captains exasperation, Hinata clenched his fists with excitement a couple of chairs down.

"Ohh, do you climb trees too?"

Giving a raucous bark of laughter, the shaved head boy disregarded his upperclassmen in favor of bragging."

"Nah, I prefer to keep my feet on the ground, but you can find me honing my totally badass skateboarding skills! I've just perfected a Kickflip and I've almost got a Darkslide down, I bet I could put a few pros to shame if I really wanted to." Tanaka grinned, soaking up all the admiration emanating from the redhead across the table.

"Skateboarding? That's a thousand times cooler than reading a map, you're the coolest guy I know, Senpai!"

"Hey!" Noya chimed, Hinata startling and quickly amending his mistake.

"I mean- You're both totally cool!"

Letting his head fall back as he laughed loudly, Tanaka jabbed a thumb at himself.

"That's right, with my mad spiking power and sick board tricks, I'll have every cute girl at Karasuno lining up for an autograph."

Raising a brow with visible doubt, his fellow second-year guffawed.

"Considering almost none of the people from our school come to our matches and I doubt they see you after class, I find that hard to believe." Kinoshita razzed.

Ego deflating at the jab, Tanaka simmered in his dejection as he crossed his arms again and pouted." Yeah, well what do you know? I could have a whole club of secret admirers; you can't prove I don't!"

Letting out a soft sigh, Daichi smiled as he once again had to keep his teammates on track.

"We get it, you're a super popular guy. Tell us a fear and let's move on to the next person."

Lips pursing in a sulky kind of way, the second year mourned the tainting of his spotlight and reluctantly moved on.

"Okay okay… My biggest fear is…" Clenching a fist tight and turning dramatic tearful eyes to the ceiling, Tanaka spoke in a wobbly voice. "Is never getting a chance to win the heart of my beloved Kiyoko! I'd die of heartache, no heartbreak! Kiyoko, my love!" Tanaka cried, bellowing his anguish to the sky as the manager paused to look over at their table, and then proceeded to carry her stack of dishes into the kitchen.

Shaking his head, Tsukishima who sat beside the shaved head boy, pressed a finger to his ear, and huffed irritated.

"You're going to make everyone in the building go deaf, pick someone else for god's sake."

Shooting the bitter first year a scathing look, Tanaka eventually ceased his shouting and scrubbed his arm across his face to dry his tears, looking between his teammates to see who was left.

"Oh! Pick me! Tanaka-Senpai, pick me! Please please, pick me!"

Hinata had bits of rice stuck to his face as he waved enthusiastically, hardly able to stay in his seat as he tried to gain the attention of his upperclassman. Turning his eyes to the small ginger, Tanaka grinned as he sniffled, then nodded his head at the other boy.

"Okay, Shorty Pants, you're up."

"YES!" Hinata exclaimed, joy radiating from him as he was finally called upon, then with sudden realization, blinked with a blank smile. A couple of seconds passed as the middle blocker stared forward frozen and silent, a weary squint to his eyes that confused his teammates.

"Uh, Hinata?... You okay?" Suga asked, leaning his head into the younger player's line of sight and waving a hand. "Earth to Hinata."

Suddenly snapping out of his stupor, he bowed his head to Sugawara and clenched his eyes shut tight.

"I- I'm sorry! I uh… I didn't come up with anything, I was so excited to take a turn… I forgot." Hinata admitted, face going red as he realized his mistake.

Thick brows jumping up, Sugawara let out a musical laugh and patted the decoy on the back good-naturedly.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it, it's only choosing something you like to do and something that freaks you out. It doesn't have to be extravagant, just say the first thing that comes to mind."

"The first thing that comes to mind…" Hinata repeated, hand raising to his chin as he turned his attention to the tabletop and thought. Suddenly, he popped up again and clenched his fists tight.

"Bathrooms! The biggest and most scary players are always lurking in the bathroom, it's like they're waiting to attack and now I get nervous whenever I even have to go." Hinata whined, sagging in his seat and looking morose.

Laughing lightly, Ennoshita looked to his underclassman empathetically.

"He does have a knack for running into trouble with other teams, I'd probably want to avoid bathrooms too."

"That's so pathetic." Tsukishima muttered contemptuously, Hinata sputtering and huffing with indignation.

"S-Shut up!"

"Tsukishima, don't you get tired of insulting those two? It's got to get boring at some point." Daichi asked as he rubbed the tense crease between his brows.

Shrugging, the blond shook his head. "Not really."

As the captain gave yet another sigh, Yamaguchi leaned passed Kageyama to see his fellow first year.

"What kind of stuff do you like to do for fun, Hinata? When I think about it, I can't really picture you doing anything other than practicing volleyball."

Perking back up, Hinata smiled back with excitement.

"Well I do practice a whole lot, but when I'm not doing that, I do a bunch of other stuff. Like playing games with Natsu."

"Who's Natsu?" Kageyama asked blandly, not appearing too concerned as he arched a brow.

"She's my little sister, Kageyama! I've told you this like five times, how don't you rememeber?" Hinata demanded as he turned to the boy beside him. "You really are pretty dumb…" He muttered under his breath.

Giving a strangled noise as his face pinched into a humorous expression, the setter barked at the shorter boy.

"Why would I need to remember the name of your sister, dumbass? And you're one to talk, you failed all your tests too, you're just as stupid!"

"No way, you failed worse than me, so you're definitely stupider!" Hinata yelled back.

"Maybe you guys shouldn't broadcast you flunked all you're tests…" Narita said from a few chairs down, ever baffled at their lack of shame.

Attempting to step up to the new shared responsibility the third years had Asahi tried to defuse the ridiculous argument.

"Uh, you said you do a lot of things, right Hinata? What else do you like to do, besides playing with your little sister?"

Distracted as easily as a child, the redhead turned his attention to their ace and blinked.

"Oh, umm… Oh, I really like manga! You don't have to read as much as a book because it's like a bunch of pictures! My favorites are the ones with super-strong heroes who save the day and have really cool powers, they come smashing through windows and kick butt! All the fight scenes are like WHAM, POW, BOOM! It's so cool!" Hinata exclaimed, but then remembering the game they were currently playing, sat up and began to look around.

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to pick someone to go after me… Uhh… Your turn Yamaguchi!"

Startled to have his name called, the mentioned first year coughed after taking a sip of water and hunched his shoulders timidly.

"Me? I guess I haven't gone yet, have I? Um well… I know it's kind of lame, but I have a group of friends I play dungeons and dragons with online… I get to be the dungeon master this time, so I've been making up a whole storyline and get to be the leader, it's actually really fun." Yamaguchi said with a meek smile and a subdued excitement.

"That's pretty cool, good for you, Tadashi!" Sugawara praised, eyeing the others as he spoke, challenging them to contradict him. "It's important to find things we enjoy, there's nothing lame about that. Let's hear a fear next."

As the other boys did well not to anger their vice-captain, Yamaguchi appeared to gain more confidence and smiled brightly.

"Thanks Suga-san." He said cheerfully and then pursing his lips in thought, took a moment to consider his next answer before his shoulders drooped once more and he ducked his head, looking up at his teammates sheepishly.

"It's a bit embarrassing actually… I uh, I'm afraid of goats. When my elementary school went to the petting zoo for a class trip, I got separated from the group and was left behind in the goat pen… The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by like a whole heard of them and they started to bite at my hair and sleeves, one of them even grabbed my shoelaces and was dragging me around until Tsuki showed up. He jumped the gate and shooed them all away, but I lost my shoe and never did get it back. Ever since then, they've sort of scared me… Oh, and they have creepy horizontal pupils." Yamaguchi shivered, hugging himself with a grimace.

"Huh, what do you know, Asahi." Daichi said, eyes falling to his longtime friend. "Looks like we have another person afraid of farm animals. Well, at least he has a reason." The captain added, shaking his head at the ace admonishingly.

"H-hey, why are you picking on me?" Asahi sulked, pouting as his friend antagonized him.

As the team laughed, Yamaguchi was silently thankful he wasn't the butt of the jokes and looked around to see who remained.

"Um, did you want to go, Kinoshita?"

Still smiling as he chuckled at the third years, the light-haired brunette turned to the first year with open friendliness and nodded.

"Sure. I think about this a lot, well the fear part anyway. I've always worried that one day when I die, I won't be memorable, and I'll be forgotten really easy." He said a little bashful, shoulders rising as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck. "So because of that, I'm going to work really hard to do something significant with my life, even if it only makes a difference to a handful of people, at least I'll leave my mark on the world before I go."

The table went silent at Kinoshita's admission and for a moment, he thought he'd said something wrong. Prepared to take it back, he flushed lightly, and just as he opened his mouth, Tanaka jumped up from his seat.

"Man, Kinoshita, that was beautiful, Brah! I totally wasn't expecting you to come out and say something so impressive, way to be a man!" He yelled, covering his face to catch the powerful stream of tears that flowed, as Noya slapped his hands onto the table and leaned over to grab the stunned brunette's attention.

"I didn't know you were so cool, Kinoshita! If you're gonna have a goal like that, you have to back it up and beat Tanaka and Ennoshita to be a starting wing spiker! Show um who's boss and kick them to the bench!" Noya encouraged, an intense and profoundly serious expression consuming his features and startling the other boy.

"U- Uh- W-wait a second, calm down!" Kinoshita said, waving his hands back and forth as Tanaka's tears suddenly dried up and he dashed to the end of the table to grab the other player by the front of his shirt and growl in his face.

"Come at me, brah! I'll send you running with your tail between your legs! Just try it, I ain't scared!"

"Tanaka, sit down!" Daichi lectured, worried for the other second year as he was shaken senseless.

"Cut it out!" Kinoshita yelled, finally catching Tanaka's hands and managing to get a foot onto his chest so that he could kick the other boy away from him. "I'm not trying to steal your position from you, I didn't even say that!"

Falling onto his butt on the floor, Tanaka continued his mean-mugging and pointed two fingers at his eyes before turning them and pointing them at the other boy.

"Sure sure, I'll let it slide for now, but I'm keeping my eyes on you…"

"Honestly, you guys are way too much sometimes." Kinoshita said as he rubbed at his now sore collar bone.

"Sometimes?" Ennoshita asked.

"More like always." Narita sighed, shaking his head as their shaved head teammate got up off the floor, sticking his tongue out at them as he headed back to his seat.

Nodding his head in agreement, Kinoshita turned to face the rest of the team once more and scratched his cheek absently.

"Alright, where was I again?... Ah, a hobby. It's nothing exciting, unfortunately, a few buddies and I like to go down to the river and fish, honestly, I'm not even good at it, but it's a lot of fun." He chuckled, looking to the boy across the table from him and inclining his head in his direction.

"You're turn, Narita."

Sucking in a little breath, the last of the second years shrunk beneath the attention of all his teammates looking at him.

"Right… My turn…" Narita said, looking as though it pained him to speak with so many eyes on him. "My uh- My fear is public speaking, I don't like being the center focus…It's too much pressure." He admitted.

Eyes going a little wide, Daichi looked remorseful.

"I completely forgot about that, Narita, I'm sorry."

Scrubbing a hand over the stubble on his head, the younger boy avoided eye contact and stared at the table.

"It's okay, this isn't horrible since I know you guys… Anyway, my favorite hobby is Shogi. My dad taught me when I was little, and we play almost every night after dinner. I joined the Shogi Lunch Club last year and haven't lost a game yet." Narita lightly boasted, a small but proud smile making an appearance.

"Wow, that's actually really impressive." Kageyama spoke up, surprising everyone that he had an opinion on the matter. "I've tried to play shogi and I couldn't figure it out at all. You must be pretty talented if no one can beat you."

Temporarily at a loss for words after being praised by Kageyama of all people, Narita forgot his anxiety and blinked stunned as the others murmured their agreement.

"Uh, thanks, Kageyama. So um… I guess that just leaves Daichi."

Giving a grin, the captain sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"I guess it does. Alright, so a hobby I enjoy is working out, I find it really helps me calm down when I'm worried about an upcoming test or can't sleep because of nightmares some first years gave me." The captain said, eyes shifting in the direction of the freak quick duo and narrowing pointedly.

Freezing under the heavy implication of the vice-principal incident, Kageyama and Hinata bowed their heads guiltily and muttered their apologies.

"Aw, come on, you're being a wet blanket again, Daichi! This is supposed to be fun." Suga smirked, brows suddenly jumping up in excitement and then grinning deviously. "Oh, you should let me tell everyone your biggest fear, can I?" He asked although it didn't seem as though he was giving much of an option.

"Suga-" Daichi complained in a firm voice, but then was abruptly cut off and startled as the other boy slapped a hand over the brunette's mouth, stopping him from speaking further.

"No no, I wanna say it! Get this, Daichi is totally scared of clowns! I once saw him practically wet his pants when we ran into one at a festival over the summer, it was the funniest thing I've ever seen! I never knew he could run so fast." Sugawara chortled, releasing his hold on his friend to wipe a tear from his eye as he laughed.

Glowering at the grey-haired boy, as he flushed and the team stifled their snickers, Daichi managed to maintain his composure until Tanaka and Noya broke out into full-on laughter. The two snorted and clung to one another as they cackled maniacally. Even Asahi was unable to help himself, visibly struggling to keep his laughter behind his fist and disguise it as coughing.

"Alright, haha. Give it a rest, guys." Daichi muttered, face growing increasingly red as the obnoxious laughter echoed through the cafeteria and attracted the attention of players from other teams. Head ducking lower and lower gradually as the noise continued, the captain quickly lost his patience with the embarrassment and yelled angrily above his teammates.

"SHUT UP, YOU'RE MAKING A SCENE!" Daichi roared, rolling up a sleeve and getting ready to throttle someone as suddenly a familiar booming voice rained over the cafeteria.

"KARASUNO LOSERS, WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

Ceasing not only the laughter coming from their table, but the entire room also went quiet as all attention turned to a short old man giving a rather powerful frown. Seeing who it was, most of the team's blood ran cold and their eyes went wide, someone murmuring; "It's Ukai Sr."

Stalking to the front of the room as the coaches from each of the teams began to gather behind him, the elderly man put his hands on his hips.

"Is anyone going to answer me? What could be so humorous your noise disrupted the entire dining hall?" He demanded, shrew eyes scrutinizing each player as he awaited someone brave enough to speak up.

Just as Daichi was about to bite the bullet and give an answer, Sugawara beat him to it and got to his feet before bowing deeply.

"We're sorry sir, we were discussing our captain's fear of clowns."

Letting out a strangled sound, Daichi slapped a hand to his forehead and drug it down his face slowly as he silently vowed to strangle him.

"Afraid of clowns? Who's your captain, stand up." Ukai Sr. demanded, not particularly looking angry, but certainly not approachable.

Letting out a tense breath, Daichi cursed his horrible luck and got to his feet to stand beside Sugawara, doing his best to ignore the stares of the other teams, but feeling the unmistakable smirks of the other captains without even having to look.

"Me sir, we met last year. Sawamura Daichi. I apologize for the disruption; I promise it won't happen again." He vowed, bowing deeply and then straightening once more.

Appraising the unfortunate teen, the old man gripped his chin and rubbed at it as he looked Daichi over. After what felt like forever as sweat began to bead on the captain's neck, Ukai Sr. seemed to recall him and gave a single nod.

"Hmm, yes, I do recall coaching you briefly last year. You're the boy with the reliable receives, correct?"

"Er- Yes, sir." Daichi said with a firm nod, momentarily surprised the elderly man had taken note of him.

"Hmm… I see. You were a good choice for team captain, I sensed a great deal of dedication and was impressed by your commitment."

Straightening even more, Daichi felt his chest swell with pride and his eyes widened at the unexpected feedback but didn't get to revel in it long.

"That being said, a fear of clowns is absolutely absurd. If you've got a fear as embarrassing as that, do yourself a favor and keep it quiet next time."

Crestfallen, Daichi felt his remaining dignity drain out of him as his face went crimson and nodded miserably.

"Y-Yes, Sir..."

Seemingly satisfied with his scolding, Ukai Sr. waved a hand at the two boys, gesturing for them to go back to their chairs.

"Have a seat, we've got an announcement to make about the activity everyone will participate in tomorrow, do well to pay attention." He said, turning to the various coaches behind him, and approaching a board on wheels that was being rolled to the front of the room.

Letting out a quiet sigh as they sat down, Daichi sent Sugawara a withering glare with the promise of hell to pay later, as the setter gave a weak attempt at a remorseful smile.

"Sorry, Daichi." He whispered with a wince, shrinking away as the larger boy simmered.

"Yeah, you're gonna be."

"Alright, listen up, everyone! Tomorrow is your last full day of training camp, but it will not be spent in the gymnasium. Instead of another day of practice matches, everyone shall participate in a unique, day-long game of Capture the Flag."

As the announcement was made, confused murmurs began to drift around the cafeteria and players looked to each other perplexed.

"Alright, quiet down. I'm sure you've got plenty of questions, but my mostly competent grandson will further explain. Keishin." Waving Karasuno's disgruntled coach to the front, the blond's nostrils flared with annoyance as a few of the men behind him chuckled.

"Thanks for the grand introduction, Old Man." Ukai muttered, letting out a sigh but then putting a hand on his hip and turning his attention to the room of boys.

"Tomorrows exercise is designed to test team bonds and the ability to work together. I feel as though I don't need to explain the importance of this skill, it should be clear to everyone that volleyball is a sport that relies on the player's ability to connect with not only the ball but each other. To make this particular game of capture the flag more beneficial, we've decided to take advantage of the 10 acres of land Karasuno's camp has to offer. Instead of attempting to steal a single flag from another team, the goal will be to capture other players, most importantly, team captains."

Another bout of murmuring began to circulate throughout the cafeteria, but before it could get too noisy, Ukai approached the board that held a large pad of paper and flipped over the cover to revealed a list that was numbered and written in red.

"Listen carefully, I'm going to go over the rules. This exercise is called, Capture the Captain."


	3. Scary Motivation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I included a map at the end to help visualize the camp, check it out, and let me know if it helps!

“Okay, first thing’s first.” Coach Ukai said, loud enough for all the boys in the cafeteria to hear. “You need to know the objective of the game and how points work. To win this exercise, you’ll need a least one captain and more points than all the other teams.

Plucking a thick black marker out of his back pocket, he began at the top of the list and tapped the board.

“Each person will have a Velcro belt with a single flag attached. You obtain points by taking another player prisoner, you do that by stealing flags. If your flag is taken, you’re now the prisoner of the team who stole your flag and will hold both your hands up in surrender as you make your way to their prison. Captains are worth five points, vice-captains three, and everyone else is worth one.”

Jumping to his feet, Nishinoya clenched his fists. “What about liberos, Coach? Those have to be worth more than one, right?”

“Sit down and don’t interrupt! Only captains and vice-captains have a different value than the rest of the players, you’ll figure out the reason for that when the game starts. Well, some of you will.” He acquiesced.

Jutting his chin out in disappointment, Noya glared at Tsukishima for snickering and flopped back down into his chair.

There was a great deal left to cover and being forced to stop every ten seconds would drag on the explanation. He spent plenty of his time yelling at a bunch of teenage boys smacking a volleyball around, the evenings were his and he had no intention of giving them up. Especially when there was the chance he could persuade someone else to pay for his drinks. Turning his attention to the rest of the players, Ukai crossed his hands over his chest, his stare sweeping across the room.

“I’m only saying all this once, so pay attention. If you’ve got a question, raise your hand and I’ll get to it eventually.” He turned and read over the list, trying to remember where he left off, and then pointed to the next thing. “Alright, so it isn’t the end of the world if you manage to get captured. Each team will have a reserved area where prisoners will be kept, and the way to get your teammate back is by tagging their hand. It sounds easy enough, but you’ll have to breach enemy territory and risk getting your flag taken to do so. That being said… The only person who may free a captain is a vice-captain.”

A murmur went around the room, a couple of chuckles, and a few side glances. Suga winked at Daichi with a nudge to his arm and Daichi let out a weary sigh. Sugawara was one of the most reliable teammates and friend, but he liked to tease. Knowing his fate was in the hands of the grinning boy beside him was both reassuring and worrisome.

“The team captain is typically the foundation of any team, so it makes sense they’ll be the most valuable player to lose _and_ gain in this exercise. For the capture of another team’s captain, you will earn five points, but if their vice-captain frees them, you will lose those points again. If your own team’s captain is captured, you will continue to play with a five-point deficit. You'll have to get five more points to make up for it or rescue your captain. You won’t lose points for any of your other players, but obviously, it would be in your best interest to avoid that.”

A hand raised at the long table surrounded by guys in aqua t-shirts and it drew Keishin’s attention. Pointing his marker at the player, he called out to him.

“You, what’s your question?”

Pushing to his feet in a smooth motion, Oikawa rested a hand on his hip as he gave Karasuno’s coach the most pleasant of smiles.

“Sorry for the interruption, sir, I promise to make it super quick.” He said, eyes drawing toward Shiratorizawa’s table for only a moment, then shifting back to Keishin. “Now if I heard you correctly, you said we need both a captain and the most points to win this little game, right? Does that mean you automatically lose if the game ends and you don’t have your captain?”

“I was getting to that, but… Yes and no. There can only be one winner, but there will be first through sixth place. You can’t place first if you don’t have a captain, but it doesn’t have to be your own. If you have more points accumulated than any other team and have _someone’s_ captain, you’ll place first. That answer your question?”

Connecting his thumb and index finger in a circle, Oikawa smiled cheerfully and nodded his head. Despite his innocent appearance, his tone was low and calculating.

“Perfectly.”

As Oikawa took his seat, another hand flung up and began to wave back and forth in a strange jerky motion. This time it was Satori Tendou from Shiratorizawa’s table.

Keishin turned toward their table and nodded his head.

“Kid with the spikey red hair.”

Instead of getting to his feet as Oikawa had, Tendou tipped back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. When he spoke, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

“Oh goody, you noticed me,” He sang, then narrowed his already heavy-lidded eyes. “So, what are we allowed to do to retrieve these _oh-so coveted flags_? Chase, tackle, trap… Bludgeon?”

Keishin’s nose flared and his brows scrunched as he stared the weird teen down, shaking his head and throwing a hand up to stop him before he could go any further.

“I was getting to that too, there won’t be any physical contact, you are not permitted to hurt another player under any circumstances. Touching an opponent, aside from brushing against them while attempting to grab their flag, is prohibited and will disqualify the offender. That means no grabbing someone’s clothes or holding on to restrain them. If your able to trap another player by other means such as cornering them or using the terrain or environment to your advantage, that’s fine. You can get creative so long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Boo, guess we’ll have to get creative then, Wakatoshi-Kun.” He said, lifting a hand from behind his head to twiddle his fingers at the disturbed coach, then rocking forward as the front legs of his chair connected with the floor. “That’s all for me.”

More than happy to move on from the eerie teen, Keishin let his eyes scan the room. “Anyone else?”

“Over here.” Said a low voice and he turned his head to see the captain from Nekoma getting to his feet, hands stuffed into his pockets and shoulders slumped in a relaxed posture.

“Alright, what’s your question?”

“Where exactly will we be doing this? Are we just running around in the woods? Sounds very… Outdoorsy.”

Yaku, whose seat was beside Kuroo at their table, gave a little snort of laughter and muttered under his breath. “No wonder they kept confusing the Tokyo Skytree, they spend all their time getting lost in the woods.”

Kuroo tittered as Karasuno’s third years sent them unamused glares, but their coach wasn’t close enough to hear.

“Sheesh, you kids gotta beat me to the punch with everything? That’s what I was just about to show you. Everyone, get up and follow me outside, we’ll finish up the rest of the explanation out there.”

The group of men who’d gathered around the board of rules, migrated toward the exit as Ukai Sr. sidled up to his grandson and jabbed two fingers into his side. Keishin let out a grunt and skittered a few steps away, snarling as he clutched his ribs.

“What the hell was that for, you crotchety bastard!”

“You haven’t told them about the penalties, you’re more forgetful than me and I have an excuse.”

“I didn’t forget anything, I said I would explain the rest outside, didn’t I? Why don’t you go find some tapioca pudding or an activity better suited for old people?”

Ukai Sr. didn’t respond, but he did lunge toward Keishin and with surprising flexibility, kicked him roughly in the lower back. An all-out brawl was avoided as Takeda appeared to grab Keishin from behind, he slipped his arms beneath the coach’s biceps and towed the furious blond outside as his hands stretched to throttle the sneering old man.

Behind them, the scrape of chairs echoed through the cafeteria as the teams got to their feet and followed, Nekoma and Karasuno intermingling as everyone slowly filed out into the waning light.

“It’s hard to believe that old guy has health problems with all the energy he has to terrorize his grandson. Not to mention he’s got a tongue as sharp as a knife, wouldn’t you say, Sawamura?” Kuroo teeth glinted in a smirk as he nudged Karasuno’s captain.

Letting out a sigh, Daichi sent him an irritated side-eye as he retorted. “Everyone is afraid of something.” 

Piping up beside him, Sugawara used a fist to cover his laughter.

“But clowns? Come on, Daichi, that’s just kinda sad.”

The group of boys began to chortle again as Daichi flushed, and he elbowed Suga in the stomach before crossing his arms.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, you can run laps with the rest of the team when we get back home.”

Grunting, Suga gripped his stomach and whined.

“What? No way, you can’t do that! I’m a third year, and the vice-captain!”

“And I’m the captain, so shut up before I give you more than the rest of them.”

Huffing indignantly, Suga screwed his lips up in a pout as Kuroo chuckled beside them.

“Betrayed by your own captain, I don’t envy you, Suga-chan.”

“He’s the one that did the betraying, now he can run until he pukes for all I care.”

“Mean, Daichiii.” Suga muttered.

The evening had turned the sky a soft blend of creamy peach and pink as they ate dinner, the summer breeze cooler now that the sun was no longer directly above. The large group of teens followed the coaches as they led the way down the sidewalk from the cafeteria, passing by the parking lot, and then turning down a path none of them had noticed prior. This path wasn’t paved and appeared just before the massive gymnasium they had been practicing in for the past four days. As they made their way along, the smell of decaying leaves filled their noses, tall ancient trees rising before them and presenting a formidable wall of woods that emitted the noise of birds and other creatures within.

Keishin continued toward the trees as if he were going to follow the dirt path into the woods but came to a halt before a large park sign in a wooden frame. The board was double-sided, the front and back protecting what looked to be a map behind plexiglass. He waited patiently for the players to come close enough to see and hear him as he pressed his hands deep into the pockets of his black Karasuno jacket, itching to tug a cigarette from the pack he wrapped his fingers around. He didn’t care what anyone else said, there was such a thing as too much fresh air, especially when you shared that air with roughly 60 loud, sweaty, teenage boys and your Grandpa who nagged you continuously.

When everyone had finally settled around him, he called their chatting to an end and directed their attention to him as he turned at an angle to include the wooden board. Tugging a hand from his pocket, he placed his palm over the map and looked at his audience.

“Lil’Tykes acres is more than farmland, it’s a volleyball camp for youth and the local Boy Scout headquarters. What you see here is a map of the ten acres of woods in front of us. If you look closely, you can see there are six structures in different locations throughout, and each is numbered.” Using his index finger, Keishin pointed to each number and then traced the circle near number one. “This is where we are right now.”

Eyes glittering excitement, Hinata peeked around Kageyama and clenched his fists. “What are the structures, Coach, do we get to check them out? I wanna explore; this is so cool!”

Keishin’s eyebrow spasmed as his speech was disrupted yet again, and he raised his voice to lecture his overzealous player.

“What did I say about interrupting! If you keep your mouth shut for five minutes, you’ll get an answer to most of your questions! If you're still confused, save it for the end and _raise your hand_.”

Thoroughly scolded, Hinata clasped his hands behind his back and bowed sheepishly. “Right, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”

Not far away, Tsukishima muttered; “What are you, a child?” To which Hinata sputtered and made a face as he stuck his tongue out.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Keishin went on, pretending he didn’t see the immature display. “These structures are simple forts used by the Boy Scouts to mark different terrains, they use these to learn how each has its downsides and benefits. Tomorrow, you will use them as a team base, your prisoners will be kept here, and it will be up to you to prevent them from being rescued. While we’re on that note, I should mention it’s important to not get too close to a prisoner. If they manage to yank your flag off, you will have to go to their team’s prison, though this does not mean that they themselves are free. A player _must_ tag hands with one of their own teammates to reenter the game, no exceptions.”

A low murmur of voices went around, but most of the players were nodding their heads in intrigued excitement, an air of anticipation energizing their spirits after a long four days of intense training.

Although he did grin at their eagerness for the exercise, he wasn’t done just yet, and he waved a hand for them to follow once again as he weaved his way through the throng of boys to make it back to the dirt trail.

“Come on, I’m gonna show you one last thing.”

The murmurs continued as Keishin led the way into the woods, the evening sky still giving enough light to turn the lush green leaves a pleasant warm color and allowing them to see between the trees. As they walked a little further, the foliage surrounding them became denser, the ground growing uneven with roots, branches, and rocks. He maneuvered around these as he made his way down the path, and then he stepped off it entirely as they came upon a wooden structure. 

Raising his voice above the crunching steps behind him, he spoke as he continued forward.

“This here is fort number one! You can see here,” He gestured to a large white square that had been spray-painted on the ground beside the fort, “That there is a marked off area. This is where the prisoners for this team will go, and there are similar squares painted at each base. No fort will look the same as another, and they are all surrounded by various protections and challenges such as shallow caves, bridges, ponds, the river, or rock formations.”

This structure was made of wood and looked like a playset you’d find in someone’s backyard, but without the swing set. It wasn’t a big fort, consisting of four main posts that held it up, a studded rock wall to climb to the top, and a latter with a thick plastic slide on the other side. A simple wooden railing surrounded the platform on top, and it stood about ten feet high, enough to comfortably walk on the thick layer of black mulch beneath it.

Approaching the slanted wall with fake rocks jutting from its surface, Keishin made quick work of climbing to the top and then pulled himself up onto the structure with a huff. He could see everyone much better from this height, and he put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the crowd of boys peering around and examining their surroundings.

“Okay,” He said, drawing eyes to him as he stood above. “Now that you know the rules, we’re going to go over penalties. First and foremost, this is private property. Surveillance cameras are all over these woods, even if you don’t see them, and someone will always be watching. Coaches and managers will be patrolling the ten acres as the game goes on too, so think about that before you try to cheat or bend the rules, because if you get caught…” Keishin paused to make eye contact with as many of them as he could. “You’ll run laps around the property until the game ends.”

Another bout of murmuring went around so he wasn’t sure who it was, but someone shouted, “How long does the game go on?”

“We’ll start at 10 AM and end at sunset, approximately 7 pm.”

“Wait- _Nine hours_?”

He saw where the voice came from this time, a boy in Shiratorizawa purple with jet black hair and severe bangs cut in an arc across his forehead. The weird redhead from before stood near him, and he leaned around another player to drape himself over the younger boy’s shoulders as he spoke abashedly.

“What’s wrong, Tsutomu-Kun? If you haven’t got the stamina to play with your friends in the woods, how will you ever replace our superstar ace?”

Brow furrowing, Goshiki’s posture went rigid but didn’t move to shrug out of Tendou’s grip. 

“Nine hours is nothing! I could play for ten, eleven, Ushijima-san will grow tired far before I will!” He declared, eyes flaming as he clenched his fists and his upperclassman snickered.

It was a good tactic to get someone motivated and Keishin chuckled as he watched, but it certainly would be a long and grueling day, he expected all of them to be utterly exhausted by the end of it. Disregarding the outburst, he went on with the last of his spiel.

“It won’t be a full nine hours; an hour lunch break will divide the day and water bottles will be available anytime at each team’s fort. There will also be first aid kits in case of minor injuries, but try to use your brains a little, will ya? The ground is hard, and rocks and branches aren’t forgiving, think before you do something stupid and reckless. Another thing, every coach and manager will have a whistle. When lunch comes around, you’ll hear it, and the same goes for the end of the game.”

Taking in a deep breath, Keishin let it out in a relieved sigh and looked over everyone as he settled his hands in his pockets once more.

“I think that’s everything, although anyone patrolling can revise or add to the rules if they find it necessary. Now, this is the time to ask questions, so raise your hand if you’ve got one.”

A new person raised their hand this time, and the young coach was intrigued to see it was a player in white and dark teal, his hand shooting up and his eyes bright with anticipation.

“You, Date Tech blondie, what’s your question?”

Quirking his head to the side like a confused dog, Koganegawa blinked for a few seconds until his teammate slapped him on the back and he snapped out of his stupor.

“Oh, me! Right, so what do we get for winning? Do we get a trophy or some kind of prize?”

“Really, Kogane? You’re making the rest of the team look dumb.” Futakuchi muttered, shaking his head at the thoughtless first year.

Slapping the back of Futakuchi’s head, Kamasaki sniffed indignantly.

“Says the guy who’s usually the one making an ass of himself. Shut up and pay attention.”

Clutching the back of his head with a yelp, the second year glared for a brief second before it turned into a smirk and he gave his upperclassman a wink.

“Aww, you’re so intimidating when you’re angry, Kama-Senpai.”

Growling under his breath, Kamasaki fisted a hand in Futakuchi’s shirt and snarled.

“I’ll give you intimidating-“

“Ahem,” Keishin interrupted, watching as the tall white-haired boy with a lack of eyebrows intervened, pushing the two apart. “The winning team gets first dibs on the barbecue after the game, oh, and then, of course, there are bragging rights. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but trust me… You’ll be hungry by the end of this. Is that it for the questions?”

He scanned the group for anymore raised hands, giving them a few moments to think as they conversed lightly, and then turned his gaze toward the well-tanned hand that rose. Keishin couldn’t honestly say he recognized or knew most of the names of the players that weren’t on his team, but this person would likely be recognizable to just about anyone. Hands still resting on his hips, he nodded his head to the stern-faced teen in purple.

“Go ahead, Wakatoshi.”

Lowering his hand, Ushijima spoke in a deep but clear voice, the crowd around him ceasing their discussion as soon as he was called upon.

“Is this one of the forts that will be used in tomorrow’s exercise?”

Keishin gave a confirmation nod. “Yes, six teams are participating, and this is one of the six forts available to choose from.”

“I see. Will that not put the team that chooses this base at a disadvantage? Will we be viewing the others?”

A wry grin settled on the coach’s lips as he admired Ushijima’s observation, and he was quiet for a few short seconds before he let out a soft laugh. He lowered himself onto the edge and dangled his legs over the ladder.

“That’s a sharp eye you’ve got there. Yes, the team that ends up at this base would technically be at a disadvantage, but only because everyone will know where it is. It’s up to the players to use this fort to its full potential, it has its own perks. That leads us to our last task of the night, everyone follow me back outside.”

Using the ladder, Keishin skipped the last few rungs as he jumped to the ground, and wasted no time leading the group back to the map just outside the woods, taking his place beside it. Once everyone had gathered around again, he pulled out his marker and tapped against the plexiglass.

“Take a good look, captains, you’ll be choosing your team’s base in just a minute, but first I’ll give a brief overview of the terrain starting with fort number one, the base we just visited. As you saw, number one is easy to locate but it also has a deep valley just behind it with an impressive bridge to cross. It’s got plenty of trees for coverage, but that’s pretty much it as far as highlights go. Across the bridge is fort number two, located at the corner of the property, hidden behind a stretch of trees, and butted up against a small rocky cave with a tunnel that passes through it.”

Moving to stand on the other side of the board, Keishin pointed to a square on the left side of the map and continued.

“This here is number three. You can see that it’s surrounded by both the river and near a pond. The trees aren’t as thick here, but it’s more secluded than the first two. Number four is pretty much the opposite, it’s located in the center of everything but surrounded more densely by trees than any other base. Not only are there more trees, but a wooden boardwalk weaves between them.” He moved his marker to the top right corner. “This is number five, cut off from the rest of the woods and only accessible by crossing the one bridge over this part of the river, it’s protected by a small grove of trees and has a few ledges with steps to climb. Finally, we have fort number six.”

Moving to the top left this time, he tapped the map and pointed at a few grey blobs around it.

“Arguably the best location, fort six is separated from the others by the river as well, but there are two bridges that can be used to get to it. Not only is there a good number of trees in this section of the woods, but there are also multiple rocky areas, a gravelly beach, and plenty of space.”

Turning back to the crowd of teens who were listening intently, Keishin pocketed his marker and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I know what you’re all wondering, who gets to pick first, right? Well, this is how it’s going to go. The team who won the most sets these past four days will get first dibs, and then we’ll move down the list to the team who won the least.”

Cheers went around, but then there were sullen sighs from others.

“The order will be…” Reaching into his pocket, he tugged out a piece of notebook paper and unfolded it to read. “Shiratorizawa, then Aoba Johsai, Fukurodani, Nekoma, Date Tech, and last is Karasuno.” He said, eyes shifting momentarily to his team as he finished, an admonishing look in his eyes that had them ducking their heads.

Stuffing the paperback into his pocket, he withdrew his dry erase marker again and uncapped it.

“We’ve gone over the terrain so it’s time to pick a base. Captains will speak for the team, but once they’ve chosen, the decision is final.” Looking over the many faces, he located the team in purple and pointed. “Wakatoshi, you’re up first. What base does your team want?”

Popping up behind the unflappable player, Tendou bent himself at an odd angle as he leaned around Ushijima and held his hands to his eyes like binoculars.

“Ohooo, which fort does our royal knight wish to claim?”

Turning his head to look at Tendou, he blinked and then glanced at the board from the corner of his eye.

“I’m inclined to choose number six, although I will wait for the team’s opinion.”

“What a gentleman.” Tendou purred, letting his head fall back and then craning it to stare at the map upside down. “I think we should choose number one!”

Ushijima’s forehead creased and his left brow pulled up just slightly.

“That is the fort everyone saw, Tendou, that does not seem wise.” 

“Yeah, everyone will know exactly where we are, why the heck would we choose that?” Semi said, face pinched with exasperation as he questioned his fellow third year.

“Why? Whhhhy? To make things interesting of course, who wants to sit in the woods waiting for people to show up?” He asked, looking to Semi and pointing at him with both index fingers. “If everyone knows where we are, we’ll be flooded with challengers. Theeen we can crush them into itty bitty teeny tiny pieces.” He said, straightening so he could fold his long slim arms behind his head and flashed twinkling eyes at his teammates.

They were quiet for a moment, and then they all looked to Ushijima, Ohira speaking up.

“Choose number six.”

Tendou scrunched his face up and leaned forward to boo in his face. “How boring you are, Ohira-Kun.”

“Choose number six.” The rest of the team echoed, further souring the teen’s sneer.

Meeting the eyes of his other teammates, Ushijima shifted his gaze to the sulking redhead and blinked once more.

“I must agree with the majority, Tendou.” Head lifting, he looked to Keishin. “Shiratorizawa will claim base number six.”

Keishin nodded his head and turned around to write ‘Shiratorizawa’ beside the base in the back left corner near the rocky beach. Throwing his arm over his face dramatically, Tendou clutched at the fabric of his shirt and gave a wail.

“Betrayed by my best friend, how could you, Wakatoshi-Kun? Now I’ll die of boredom, speak well of me at my funeral!”

Ushijima reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, his face still impassive. “I will.” 

“Wah? Don’t accept my death so easily!”

The other players from Shiritorizawa snickered as their captain was reprimanded, his one word ‘sorry’ only making Tendou cross his arms and mutter about half-assed apologies.

Keishin didn’t linger as the one-sided bickering went on, so after he turned around and located the team in aqua, he pointed to the fluffy-haired brunette.

“Oikawa, you’re up, one through five.”

Giving a narrow-eyed grin, he touched a finger to his chin and hummed lightly in contemplation.

“Fort two near that rock tunnel might be good.” Iwaizumi murmured at his shoulder. “I bet it would be pretty useful.”

“What about number three?” Hanamaki said. “It’s protected by the river and that pond so we’d pretty much know what direction people would come from.”

“I agree with number three.” Kunimi said.

“I’m cool with either.” Kindaichi added.

The others murmured their agreement to these suggestions, but then Oikawa spoke above them, a cheery smile on his face.

“We’ll go with number five, please and thank you.”

“Five? Alright.”

An angry chatter erupted from the players of Aoba Johsai as Keishin turned to write their name on the map, followed by a thwack!

“ _OUCH_ , Iwa! What was that for?” Oikawa demanded, clutching at the back of his head with both hands as he turned a glare on the seething teen behind him.

“You know what it was for, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi said, taking a menacing step toward him. “Self-centered jackass, I should kick you too.”

Jumping away with a yelp, Oikawa screwed his face up into a frown and continued to rub his head.

“Calm down, I was only making the best decision for our team. Number five is protected by the river too, not to mention we’ll be able to catch anyone scaling the steps to get to our base.” Oikawa pointed out, releasing his head to place a hand on his hip and give a cocky smirk. “We’ll have the highest vantage point of any fort, it was the second-best choice.”

Iwaizumi grunted in response, refusing to acknowledge the logic behind his decision.

“Whatever, Loserkawa, if this ends up screwing us over, you’ll have hell to pay.”

Oikawa gulped as he took in his threatening glare, but then he cleared his throat and delicately folded his arms over his chest.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Iwa-chan, have I ever steered us wrong?”

“ _Tch_.”

Oikawa grinned.

“Okay, next. Bokuto, what’s your choice?”

Face lighting with excitement, Bokuto threw a fist into the air and leaned forward to stare at the board intently. “Hey hey, that cave tunnel is pretty sweet! Oh oh and check out the one in the middle with the wooden bridges everywhere, that looks like fun!”

As he went over the remaining four options, his brow scrunched over his eyes, his face growing troubled as he focused. His stare jumped back and forth as his teammates offered suggestions, a full two minutes passing before Keishin lost his patience, and then he let out a sigh as he waved a ‘hurry up’ motion.

“Let’s go, I don’t wanna be here all night.”

Growing frantic, Bokuto looked between the options even quicker but then gave up entirely and turned to his vice.

“Akaashi!” He yelled, the black-haired second year cringing as he put a hand over Bokuto’s face and pushed him away.

“Why are you screaming, I’m right in front of you.” 

Pulling his hand away but keeping it in his grip, Bokuto’s eyes bore into Akaashi’s.

“What should I choose, you’re better at this kind of thing! Tell me where we should go!”

Remaining quiet, Akaashi paused to peer around him at his teammates and found them nodding their agreement. He took this cue to share his thoughts and gently tugged his hand free of the ace’s hold, his eyes shifting to the board and then gliding back to his teammates.

“Four and two have their advantages, but of the remaining options… I believe three has the most potential. We’ll keep the river at our back and lower the chance of a surprise attack. If we’re trying to prevent others from retrieving their teammates, it’s our best choice.”

With no hesitation, Bokuto spun around and jabbed a finger at the map behind Keishin.

“We’re taking LUCKY NUMBER THREE!”

“Number seven is lucky, not three,” Akaashi said.

“I was _trying_ to sound _cool_ , Akaashi, do you have to ruin it?”

Akaashi rolled his eyes, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“Sorry, Bokuto-san.”

“ _Well, I don’t think you are_.”

“Number three it is,” Keishin announced, his back turned to the crowd again as he began to write ‘Fukurodani’, calling out the next captain as he did so.

“Kuroo from Nekoma, choose your base.”

There were only three options left, the fort smack dab in the middle of everything and riddled with boardwalks, number one which everyone had toured, and the base with the cave tunnel. Kuroo took note of this as he crossed his arms and stared at the board, his posture relaxed but his eyes full of mischief.

“It’s pretty obvious what we should choose, don’t you think?” Kuroo said, his voice low and his eyes drawn down to the frowning blond beside him. 

“If it’s obvious, why are you asking me?” Kenma muttered, his hands sinking deeper into the pockets of his jacket, his brow dipping with annoyance.

Yaku sniffed. “Enlighten the rest of us.”

Kuroo chuckled and turned his hands up in a flourish to elaborate. “We’ll take number two with the cave tunnel, of course. Our brain can do his job best from there.”

“Woah, is it because Kenma-san can see in the dark?” Lev chimed, his emerald eyes bright with curiosity.

Yamamoto slapped him on the back.

“People can’t see in the dark, idiot.” He said as Kenma irritably muttered, “No.”

Shibiyama tilted his head to the side as he tried to understand. “What makes number two better than the others, then?”

A finger went up beside him and the other teens were intrigued to see it was Fukunaga, his wide eyes blinking and a little smile on his lips.

“A fort in the middle means opponents from every side. Choose number one and we'll be targeted. If we want to minimize exhaustion, we must become one with the dark.” Fukunaga cocked his head like a bird and turned his gaze on Kenma. “Right, Boss?”

He may not have agreed with the phrasing, but the reasoning was accurate.

“…Mmhm…” 

“Number two it is.” Kuroo said, raising his hand and voice high enough for Karasuno’s coach to take notice.

“Okay.” He agreed. “Number two goes to Nekoma.”

After writing the name down, he gave his attention to the next team. “Date Tech, your up. Kaname, right?”

Date Tech’s captain was smaller than most of his teammates, but he stood with his shoulders pulled back and his head held high.

“That’s right, sir. What do you think guys, we’ll go with the one in the middle, right? Number four?”

Putting his hands on his hips, Futakuchi shrugged.

“Considering it’s that or the base everyone’s seen, we don’t have much of a choice, do we?” 

“Number four still has a lot to offer, stop moping,” Kamasaki said, to which the second year pushed his nose up and made a face.

Aone stepped up to place a hand atop Futakuchi’s head, squashing it down and ceasing his classmate’s antics. Moniwa looked to the white-haired boy with amusement and gave a grin.

“What do you think, Aone, should we go with four?”

The large boy was quiet, but then he gave a single nod.

Moniwa laughed. “You got it, big guy.” Turning to Keishin who was waiting for an answer, the captain raised his voice.

“Date Tech wants number four!”  
“Alright.” Keishin turned his back to the crowd for the last time, writing Date Tech aside four and then moving to write beside number one. “That means Karasuno gets the first base, you got that, Sawamura?”

Nodding his head, Daichi crossed his arms and kept his chin up.

“Yes, Coach.”

“Last place must suck.” Kuroo muttered a grin plastered on his face as he looked at the brunette not far from him. “We wouldn’t know.”

Gritting his teeth, Daichi gave a forced smile in return.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

“Doubt it.”

“Finally.” Keishin sighed loudly. He snapped the cap back on his marker and tucked it behind his ear before bracing his hands on his hips. “Everyone knows the rules and each team has a base. If you have any more questions bug your coach or managers, they can give you the same information I can. One last thing.”

Keishin had appeared apathetic through the duration of the explanation, but now his face became a bone-chilling mask of eerie calm. His eyes roamed the teenage boys before him, and his low even voice drew their attention.

“Some of you might be thinking, ‘What does a stupid game of Capture the Flag have to do with volleyball?’. The answer is everything. If there is one thing the two have in common, it’s teamwork, the single most important concept in volleyball. Many of you would argue against that, but none of us are as smart as all of us, and a team can only be as strong as its largest fault.”

In the darkening woods behind them, crickets had begun chirping, the soft hoot of a barn owl announcing the approach of nightfall. Everyone was listening intently.

“Maybe you feel like you can do everything on your own.” He murmured. “Or maybe you just don’t want to put in all the effort it takes to get along with your peers. Be it pride or laziness, neither is an excuse. You’re here to play volleyball and the only way you get to keep playing is by winning. I’ll leave you with this quote and I suggest you commit it to memory.”

Tugging his cigarettes from his pocket, he flipped open the lid and selected a long white tube.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. Don’t let your unwillingness to work as part of the team drive you to failure.” He said, then placed the cigarette in his mouth and began his walk back toward the dorms.

“That’s all, get some rest before tomorrow morning, you’re gonna need it. Oh, and my team?”

“Yes, Coach!” They all replied immediately.

“If you come in last place, don’t bother showing up to practice on Monday.”

They stiffened, not a hint of a joke in his tone. The whole of Karasuno was frozen with fear, but Daichi elbowed Suga and they managed to stutter a response.

“Y-Yes, Coach!”

…..........................................................

A few minutes later, teams were milling about the park map-making observations of the terrain, and loose plans to work around obstacles. Some were whispering strategies or giving speeches while others yawned and eyed the path back to the dorms.

“No, Tanaka. He said touching other players was prohibited. If you go tackling someone and get disqualified, I’m personally going to strangle you.” Daichi warned.

“Man, they took all the damn fun out of this!”

Tsukishima blinked apathetically. “Maybe you should have joined the football team if you wanted to mindlessly smash into people like a cave man.”

“No way, volleyball runs like the blood through my veins! There’s no other sport for me.”

“Well, if we don’t manage to take something other than last place, that’s going to be a problem,” Daichi said, face grim.

The players from Karasuno stood in a loose circle near the map, their captain looking worse for wear as he tried to get his team on the same page. If he didn’t have a few sparkling gray hairs before graduation, he’d be astounded. Sugawara stood beside him and he rested a hand on the other teen’s shoulder.

“Relax, Daichi, he wouldn’t really kick us off the team…I mean… I don’t think he even could… _Could_ he?” He scratched his chin and then blinked unfocused at the ground. “Crap, maybe he can.”

Groaning, Daichi slapped his hands to his face and rubbed it wearily.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We just have to not come in last place, we can manage that, right?”

The group was quiet in response to their captain’s question, and he looked up with an irritable tone to his voice.

“ _Right?_ ”

A handful of affirmations went around the circle, but it was hardly enough to give him hope.

“Hey, Karasuno, want a little more motivation?”

All he needed was to hear that sly voice filled with mischief, and Daichi knew he did not want more motivation. Tempted to ignore the rooster-haired bastard, he took in a long deep breath and let it out slowly before looking over his shoulder.

“Not really, I think we’ve got plenty.”

A chuckle escaped Nekoma’s captain and it was another blow his nearly depleted sanity.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Sawamura-san. We can all use a little more motivation.” Raising his voice, he looked around at all the players still discussing plans and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “I suggest a contest.”

“HEY HEY HEY, I like the sound of that!” Bokuto said, Akaashi beside him unamused.

“It’s already a contest, winners get to eat before everyone else.”

Grinning, Kuroo placed his hand on his hip and waved a finger at Akaashi. “Ahh, but see here… I meant the losers. First place might get dibs on the barbeque, but last place gets a punishment. How bout it, anyone else wanna play?”

Daichi did not like this idea, especially with the evil glint shining in Kuroo’s eye. Shaking his head, he folded his arms over his chest and declined the offer.

“Thanks, but no thanks. We have enough at stake without tacking on your demented idea of fun.”

“Do my ears deceive me, or is Karasuno admitting they’ll take last place?”

The question came from Oikawa and he sent the team in black a silky smile as he wandered closer to Kuroo.

“I thought they’d at least pretend they stood a chance, maybe all those penalties are finally getting to them.”

A growl echoed through the group, but they said nothing as Kuroo turned his attention to the smirking setter.

“So, are you down or what, pretty boy?”

“Me? Oh, I don’t know… I could be convinced… Will Ushiwaka’s team be joining the festivities?” 

Eyes turned to the ace watching with his usual stoic expression, the others surprised when he nodded his acceptance.

“We do not intend to take anything less than first, therefore the punishment would not apply. We will participate in your contest since it will not affect us either way.”

A scornful grin took up residence on Kuroo’s face and he whistled as he tilted his head back to observe Ushijima through slitted eyes.

“Now that’s cockiness if I’ve ever heard it.”

“I am being honest, not cocky.”

Kuroo coughed a laugh. “What’s weird is I feel like you really mean that. But the thing is…” His eyes flashed predatorial, his pupils resembling that of a cat. “ _We don’t intend to take anything less than first place either._ ”

Tension crackled in the air between the captains, Bokuto running his tongue along his upper lip, Oikawa sobering as his eyes slid to Ushijima, and the others looking to one another with silent scrutiny. The moment drug on, and it was only broken as Kuroo spoke up again, his eyes still fixated on the captains closest to him.

“Date Tech, what do you say?”

Moniwa had been watching the interaction just as everyone else had, but he hummed in contemplation as he gripped his elbow in one hand, and his chin in the other.

“That depends, what’s this punishment? We won’t bother if it isn’t something good.”

“And by good, you mean bad.”

“Obviously.”

“Hmm, that’s a good question. Anyone got an idea?”

Bokuto shot up like a jack in the box.

“Oh-oh! I say losers eat a handful of dirt!”

Making a noise of offense, Oikawa shook his head at the other captain. “What are you, five? I propose the losing team has to do three laps around the property.”

“If his was childish, yours is just boring,” Kuroo said, yawning for effect.

“It’s rude to interrupt. I was going to say three laps around the property…” He paused, his eyes growing shrewd and the corner of his mouth pulling up in a smirk. “In their underwear. Arms linked.” 

The grin on Kuroo’s face stretched to a full-blown smile, and it radiated amusement.

“Now _that’s_ what I’m talking about. What do you think, Moniwa, are you and your boys brave enough?”

Giving a surprisingly devious snicker, Date Tech’s captain nodded his head. “We’re in.”

Kuroo grinned. “Glad to hear it. That just leaves…” The attention turned back to Karasuno, and Daichi was thrown into the hot seat once again.

He spoke before the sentence could be finished.

“Hell no.”

Bokuto let out a whine and crossed his arms in a pout. “What! What are you, a chicken? You’ve gotta play! It won’t be fun if we don’t get to crush everyone.”

Daichi sighed, his poor head beginning the familiar throb of a headache as he massaged his temple.

“As much as name-calling makes me want to participate, I think we’ll sit this one out.” He muttered.

“Now hold on just a minute, this camp is home turf for you country bumpkin crows. You’re telling me you don’t think you can manage at least _fifth place_? This should be a walk in the park for you lot- walk in the woods.” Kuroo amended.

“Honestly, do you think we spend all our free time running through the forest and rolling in the dirt?” Sugawara demanded, brow dipping low with annoyance.

“Don’t you?”

“No,” Daichi said, tone final.

A musical laugh interrupted Kuroo’s response, Aoba Johsai’s snarky setter unfolding his arms to point at Daichi.

“Wow, Captain, could you doubt your team’s ability to succeed a little louder? If you don’t think you can win with a group like this… Why are you even here?”

Daichi stiffened, his hands clenching into fists as he frowned at the other teen. His voice was quiet as he responded, but firm.

“I don’t doubt my team.”

Oikawa held a hand to his ear and leaned forward. “Hmm, what was that?”

Daichi spoke louder this time, his words clear. “I said, I don’t doubt my team.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you shouldn’t have any problem participating. After all,… You just can’t come in last place. That isn’t so hard, is it?”

Daichi glowered at Oikawa as he grinned back at him easily. He really didn’t like this guy; he was cornered and didn’t see a way out of playing their stupid game. Not unless he wanted his team to think he had zero faith in them. He was trying so hard to get them to work together, that was the absolute last thing he needed.

Taking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly and looked briefly to Sugawara at his shoulder. The silver-haired vice gave a minuscule nod, and he knew immediately he’d regret what he was about to say next.

“Fine, have it your way. We’re in.”

Oikawa stuffed his hands in his pockets, his grin as haughty as ever. 

“Excellent.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience waiting for this chapter guys, I had a TON of stuff I had to figure out! lol I hope you find the map helpful and it aids in visualizing the 10 acres they'll be playing in, I know it helps me! XD


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